Learning how to Trust
by RandomDragon2.0
Summary: This takes place while the ninja where searching for the shurikens of ice. Kai doesn't think that the other's care about his missing sister at all and runs off. With a blizzard on the way, can the other ninja find him and convince him to open up? This is my very first story on FFN, so I hope you enjoy :D
1. Chapter 1

Kai sighed as he shuffled his feet and pulled his coat tighter around himself. The team was currently standing near a pier at the last village they would see on their journey to get the shurikens of ice. Sensei Wu was busy trying to charter a boat that they could use for the last leg of the trip. So far, he didn't seem to be having very good luck.

Jay shivered as another cold wind blew through. "What's taking so long?" he complained," If we stand here any longer I think we're going to turn into a bunch of ninjacicles."

Zane just stared at him with a confused expression while the others groaned. Speaking of Zane, the guy wasn't even wearing his coat. He had it draped over his arm as Jay attempted to explain to him what a ninjacicle was.

"Well... " Cole started, glancing around," Sensei never said we couldn't explore a bit while we're waiting."

"That's fine with me," Kai replied," Better than sitting here and doing nothing." Honestly, the brunette thought this was just a big waste of time. They should be looking for his sister, not standing around in the middle of nowhere trying to get a ride.

The group traveled through the small village, trying to find anything of interest. "Is there seriously nothing to do around here?" Jay complained again," How do these people stay entertained all day long?"

"They work," Kai answered," besides all of the snow and ice this place is a lot like Ignacia. If you aren't working, you're getting the supplies you need to survive, and if you aren't doing that you're enjoying time with friends and family."

"So no TV?"

"Nope"

"Video games?"

"Nu -uh"

"What kind of evil place is this!?"

The rest of the ninja chuckled at Jay's outburst.

"That's how it is in places like this," The amber eyed teen continued," The fanciest thing I own is this dagger." He pulled out the small weapon. The blade was narrow and sharp, while the handle had an intricate dragon design carved into it. The eyes of the dragon where made out of rubies.

"Wow," Zane said leaning in to get a better look at the design.

"Where did you get something like that?" Cole asked.

Kai looked away from the older ninja and put the weapon back in it's sheath. "It was a gift," Was all he said before he started walking down the road. The others glanced at each other before following.

The raven haired teen cursed to himself for getting nosy when the newest member of the team finally seemed to be opening up. The brunette stayed silent for the rest of time they explored the village, lost in thought.

As they walked back to the pier, a couple of kids ran past. The older of the two was a boy with black hair and blue eyes. The younger also had black hair, but her eyes where brown.

The blue eyed one yelled," Hurry up Sis, Mom said she had something special planned for us when we got home."

The other one laughed and replied with," No fair, my legs aren't as long as yours."

Kai watched them with a hint of envy. They had no idea how good they had it, living their lives without a care in the world. He looked back at his teammates, who where talking and joking a few feet ahead of him. Those guys didn't care about his sister, they weren't even trying to look for her.

Heck they didn't even have siblings, so how in the world could they possibly understand what he was going through. Kai couldn't remember ever feeling this lost and alone. Those skeletons could be doing anything to his sister, it was even possible that by the time they did find her it would be to late.

That one thought seemed to make everything stop. The amber eyed teen stood frozen to the spot he was standing. It took the rest of the team a moment to realize that the fire ninja was no longer following them.

"Kai?" Jay asked, the first one to walk back to him," Are you alright?"

The brunette didn't respond, dark thoughts consuming his mind like a wildfire. If he didn't get Nya back he wouldn't be able to go on. She was all he had in life, and here they where in some random village risking their lives to get a bunch a sparkly weapons.

"Come on dude," Cole tried, moving directly in front of the frozen teen," Talk to us, what's going on?"

"I-I can't do it," he responded in barely a whisper.

"What was that?"

"I can't do this," Kai responded, louder this time," I can't just sit here with you people when my sister is in trouble! Every second that we waste looking for those stupid shuriken is another second that those skeleton can do whatever they want to her!"

"Calm down Kai," Zane stepped forward," We are doing our best-"

"Your best!? You call it your best to go sightseeing in this fucking place instead of actually trying to track down those skeletons!?"

The earth ninja felt his own temper starting to rise at Kai's outburst," You think just because your sister got kidnapped that you have a right to yell at us for it? We aren't the ones who took her, and you just so happen to out here with us so you aren't in much of a position to say anything anyways!"

The brunette glared at the older teen," Well it's the truth isn't it? The only reason I joined this shitty team was so I could save Nya, and not a single one of you has so much as lifted a damn finger to help me!"

"Well if your so upset about it then maybe you should of tried harder to stop them!" Jay shot out suddenly," You where the one who was there when it happened, and if you want to blame anyone for what happened you might want to look in a mirror!"

Kai's eyes widened in shock and he took a step backwards. Jay realized what he said and quickly tried to apologize, but it was to late. The damage had been done.

The auburn haired teen could see the pain in the red ninja's amber eyes. He took another step backwards and looked down at the ground. Memories from the fight played through his head. If he hadn't let himself get so carried away with the fight then maybe he could have seen what the skeletons where planning to do. He could have stopped them and none of this would have ever happened.

Cole took a small step forward," Kai?"

The brunette suddenly lashed out, pushing Cole to the ground before turning and running off.

"KAI!" Jay cried out, but the teen didn't stop or look back. Zane helped their leader up.

"What do we do now?"

The raven haired teen glanced in the direction Kai had ran off in," We have bring him back."

"Why should we even bother, it's not like the guy actually wants to be a part of the team anyways," Jay pointed out.

"I believe he distances himself for other reasons," Zane stated," He doesn't think that we would understand his feelings, and in general just doesn't know how to really interact with people other than his sister. I sense that he has dealt with loss before, and he can't stand the thought of having to feel that kind of pain again. He feels alone, and his reluctance to share how he feels is causing his negative emotions to build up."

"The guy hardly ever talks to us, how did you manage to figure all of that out?"

"I simply took the time to observe his actions and try to figure out why he does what he does. When he didn't want to give any details about his dagger, I realized he must have gotten it from someone important, and the sudden mood change afterwords suggests they where either no longer on good terms or that person is no longer with us. Seeing as he seems to take pride in having the item, I believe it is the latter."

"Well whatever the reason," Cole interrupted," We have to find him. There's a storm headed our way, and Kai isn't used to cold weather."

The others nodded and they all began searching for their missing teammate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Special thanks to Loki God of Evil and Willow Julien for being the first people to leave reviews**

 **I hope you all have a Great Christmas, I know I am :D**

Kai made his way out of the village and only stopped running when it was just a small dot against the white snow. Panting, he sat down on a large rock and sighed. Running off on his own in a place he knew practically nothing about might not have been a very good idea. He remembered that they had come through a forest shortly before they made it here, so he began walking in the general direction he believed they had came from.

Sure enough, a large forest soon made itself visible against the fields of snow. A sudden gust of wind blew through causing the teen to shiver. What he would give to be home with his sister right now.

Small birds fluttered around in the branches and Kai occasionally spotted a small white rabbit hopping here and there while he walked. He didn't have any real destination, and now he began to think that he probably shouldn't of ran out of that village as quickly as he did. At least not without asking for a map first.

Another strong gust of wind blew and Kai looked up, noticing large clouds moving in quickly.

"Well this is just great," He said aloud. He was going to have to go back now in order to take shelter from the coming storm. Maybe the others had already left and he wouldn't have to worry about running into them.

He began following his footsteps back to the village, and saw that the animals from before seemed to have vanished, leaving the forest completely silent. Deciding that it was probably because of the storm, he kept going.

A sudden roar echoed through the forest and the teen turned to see a giant grizzly bear charging strait at him. He dove to the right just as it lunged at him, it's claws raking his left arm. The beast charged again, and the brunette jumped over it's head, landing on it's back. The bear cried out in anger and started trying to get him off.

Kai took out a dagger and was about to use it when something nearby caught his attention. Two small cubs, attempting to hide in a nearby bush. The teen groaned and sheathed his weapon. He couldn't hurt the bear for just trying to defend it's cubs. He was the idiot who wasn't paying attention and got to close.

The bear finally succeeded in getting the ninja off of it's back, and Kai landed in the snow. He started to get up, but the bear bite down on the hood of his coat and started dragging him backwards. He quickly unzipped the coat and slipped out, running further into the woods as the bear shredded the fabric.

After a few minutes, he stopped and looked around. The bear hadn't given chase, probably deciding it's time was better spent finding shelter for it's cubs. Kai now realized that at some point during the encounter with the large animal, it had started to snow, and another strong gust of wind reminded him that he was now completely exposed to the elements.

Shivering, he turned to see if he could follow his footprints again, but they where already being covered up. Realizing that his best chance of surviving right now was to keep moving, he did just that. Hopefully he could find his way back to the village before it was to late.

~x~X~x~

"Hey guys!" Jay shouted," I think I found something!"

Cole glared at the younger ninja," You do realize that we're standing right next to you right?"

"Whoops."

"It appears that Jay has indeed figured out where our missing friend has gone," Zane stated, pointing at a set of tracks moving away from the village.

"Good work Zane," the oldest ninja complimented,"Let's follow them before Kai get's himself in trouble."

"Hey! What about me?" Jay complained.

"I'll give you a cookie when we get back, now come on."

The blue clad teen humphed before following his teammates out into the snow covered fields.

They followed the footprints to a forest as the wind began to steadily get stronger and the temperature dropped a few degrees.

"Surely that guy is smart enough to not stay out in the open with a blizzard on the way, right?"

"I do believe that he would have the sense to seek shelter Jay," The blond responded," Perhaps even backtracking his way back to the village."

"Hey, I think I see something over there," the black ninja pointed to something red in the distance. The three teens ran to it and found the remnants of Kai's coat.

Almost instantly Jay started to freak out," Oh no, this is bad. Very very very bad."

"Calm down Zaptrap, let's at least get a look around before we assume the worse."

"Well given these tracks, I would say that Kai had a run in with some of the native wildlife of this forest. From the lack of any blood or a body I would say that he managed to escape by sacrificing his coat," Zane observed," Then he ran off while the beast was distracted."

"So now he's stuck out here without a coat with a blizzard on the way," Cole pinched the bridge of his nose," We have to find him now."

"Um.. Not to be a bringer of bad news," Jay pointed up at the sky," But it's already snowing, and the temperature is dropping by the minute, and his trail is being covered up. How in the world are we supposed to find him before he freezes to death?!"

Cole was about to speak when he noticed Zane staring off into the distance.

"Zane, what's wrong?"

"I believe that Kai is in this direction," He responded, as if they wheren't in a life or death situation.

"Of course, your sixth sense couldn't have picked up his signal earlier," Jay complained as they started to walk in the direction that Zane suggested they go.


	3. Chapter 3

Kai couldn't remember ever feeling this cold. The wind seemed to be blowing strait threw him, and the snow was now falling so thick that he could only see a few feet in front of him in any direction. To exhausted to keep going, the teen collapsed on the ground. He curled up in a ball to try and conserve what little warmth he had left.

This was it, he was sure. There was no way he could get himself out of this situation, not by himself. He pushed away the only people who had been willing to try and be friends with him, and his sister was still stuck in the underworld. There was no way he would be able to save her now.

Actually it was kinda funny, he was on a team that was fighting against an army of skeletons and the dark lord himself and he was about to die because of a little snow and ice. Hopefully the guys would be able to save Nya after they got the weapons.

Snow was starting to cover his body, but he didn't care anymore. There was nothing he could do to save himself. Hopefully someone would find his body so he could at least be given a proper burial and Nya would know what happened to him. She would be sad, but he knew that she would survive without him, just like they survived without their parents.

"Kai!"

The teen made an attempt to look around at the sound of his name. Had someone actually come out here looking for him?

Sure enough three figures emerged from the curtain of falling snow.

Cole ran to him and lifted him out of the snow.

"G-guys," the amber eyed teen said weakly. He looked at the three ninjas as they gathered around him, somewhat helping to block the wind.

Jay looked terrified, Zane had his usual calm look to him but Kai thought he could see some form of alarm in the blond's eyes, and Cole just looked worried.

Zane quickly put his coat, which he had never once put on but still carried with him, around the shivering teen and Cole helped him stand up.

"Hold on Kai, we're going to get you out of here," The earth ninja said, deciding it would be faster to carry the brunette. Kai merely nodded, which alarmed the black clad teen even more. They had only been moving for about a minute before the red ninja passed out. Cole quickly checked his vitals, and started moving faster when he saw how weak his pulse was.

The team made it to the village in record time and instantly rushed to the dock where Wu was waiting for them with the boat he had chartered. He was surprised to see the condition of his newest recruit, but didn't waste time asking questions, instead ushering his pupils below deck.

They laid the red ninja on a small cot and Sensei Wu pulled several blankets from a closet. The other ninja worked on removing his clothes, which where now soaked from the snow, and getting him into some fresh ones they also found in the closet.

After ensuring that Kai was thoroughly wrapped up and the strange cuts on his left arm where bandaged Sensei finally asked his students for an explanation. Jay instantly began telling him everything that had happened, with occasional commentary from Zane or Cole.

When they where finished Wu stroked his beard, deep in thought. The three conscious ninja all stood there nervously, not even Jay daring to break the silence that had taken over the small room.

Finally Wu spoke," I am glad that you all have gotten Kai back here safely. Now I want you three to watch over him until he wakes up."

"All of us," Jay complained," but I hate waiting, why can't Cole do it?"

Sensei glared at the youngest ninja, instantly getting him to shut his mouth.

"I expect one of you to tell me when he awakens," with that, Sensei walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"I still don't see why we ALL have to watch him," Jay mumbled under his breath as he took a seat in a small wooden chair.

"Well having three extra bodies in the room will help raise the temperature more," Zane stated.

"Don't forget you're part of main reason he ran off in the first place Motormouth," Cole added.

Jay mumbled something under his breath before sending a worried glance towards the still sleeping master of fire.

~x~X~x~

Kai moaned as he slowly got up. Opening his eyes, he saw he was in a small room with wood walls. He spotted the other ninja quietly talking in the corner, not yet realizing that he was awake. The teen tried to figure out how he got here, but the last thing he could remember was being cold and seeing Cole's face. He still felt cold, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before. Still, he shivered slightly and pulled the blankets on him closer.

"I see you have finally woken up," The monotone voice of Zane stated as the other two teens glanced over.

"Kai," Jay yelled in surprise before rushing over to the bed and hugging the brunette," I was starting to think that you might never wake up."

The other two teens walked over as well.

"How you feeling," Cole asked.

"Kinda cold, and I have no idea where I am, but other than that I'm good."

"Hopefully now that you are awake and moving around you body will warm up faster," The white ninja said with a small smile.

The red ninja glanced around at the three teens before looking down at the ground," Why did you guys even bother to come looking for me?"

"Well, your our teammate, and we couldn't just leave things the way we did," Cole answered.

"Plus we're friends now, right?" Jay asked," The four of us against the skeleton army."

"You would consider me a friend, even after how I was acting earlier?" Kai was positive there was no way they could actually think that. He never once even thought about trying to be friendly towards these guys.

"Sure you aren't the easiest person to get along with," Cole stated," But that just makes me want to get to know you better."

"We all wish to know more about you," Zane added," But you have to be willing to open up to us more."

Kai looked around at the people who had saved his life," Well, I'm not sure if I am quite ready to tell you everything... " He stood up and walked to where his clothes had been laid out to dry off and grabbed his dagger," But I suppose I could tell you the story behind this."

He sat back down and traced a finger down the dragon design.

"I got it as a present on my fourth birthday. It was actually made right in front of me."

"Wow, really?" Jay interrupted," My parents would never have let me have something like that when I was young."

The other ninja glared at him and he smiled sheepishly," Sorry."

Kai shook his head before continuing," It was actually my dad who made it for me. I can remember Mom yelling at him," Kai laughed a little," In order to make her happy, Dad put it in a box and told me I could open the box when I was twelve. I never once touched that box for eight years. Not even after my parents... "

The brunette trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

Cole placed a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder," Hey, it's alright. My Mom passed when I was young to. I know how much it hurts."

Kai looked up at the older ninja in surprise, before giving a small smile and continuing," Well, I opened the box when I turned twelve, and I haven't gone anywhere without it since."

"Man, I definitely wasn't expecting that," The lightning ninja said," I couldn't imagine life without my parents."

"It wasn't all bad, I mean I had Nya. We helped each other get through the loss. I did everything I could to take care of her and keep her safe, and she helped to keep me on the right path. She's an amazing person, and I-I... I couldn't even stop a bunch of stupid skeletons from kidnapping her."

"But that wasn't your fault," Jay responded," There's no way you could have seen what they where about to do. That's just impossible. Instead of focusing on that, you should focus more on getting her back. In fact, I think we all should."

The amber eyed teen looked up at the blue clad ninja. He wanted to respond but didn't have the words.

"Yeah," Cole agreed," We still need to get those weapons, but that doesn't mean we can't try to find her to."

Zane nodded his head," As I have learned from my time with Cole and Jay, family is important and always comes first."

"You guys really mean all of that?" Kai asked.

"Of course we do"

"Yup"

"Indeed"

The brunette smiled at them," Thank you."

"GROUP HUG," Jay yelled before wrapping his arms around his teammates. The others all laughed before joining in.

"I see that Kai is awake," another voice spoke.

The ninja all looked over to see their sensei walking into the room.

"I believe I told you three to tell me when he woke up."

"Sorry Sensei," Jay replied, rubbing the back of his neck," Guess we where all so excited to see that he was alright that we forgot to get you."

"I see, Well I expect to see you all on the deck bright and early tomorrow. We set sail at dawn," The old man then walked out of the room, sipping on a cup of tea that seemed to have just appeared out of thin air.

The teens all looked at each other.

"Sooo... now what?" Kai asked.

"It's been a long day," Cole replied," I think we all just get some rest.

"Can't argue with you there," Jay said," All that running around earlier tired me out."

"I saw more rooms while we where bringing Kai down here. I believe we should all be able to get our own beds," Zane stated.

Kai yawned, suddenly feeling tired as well. "That's weird, I would figure I'd feel more awake after all that time I just spent sleeping."

"Your body is probably still recovering," The blond moved towards the door, signaling for the others that they should leave as well.

Cole was the last one to leave," Just get some rest, You'll need it with how early Sensei plans on getting us up."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," The brunette replied before laying down and wrapping himself up in the blankets.

The older teen turned grabbed the lantern they had been using as a light source and walked out, closing the door behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Loki: Thanks for your commentary, the part with the icebreaker made me laugh so much, I swear I am related to Jay somehow with how easy it is for silly little things to crack me up.**

The next morning, the ninja where out on the deck of the ship, preparing to leave.

"Ugh, why did Sensei have to get us up so early?" Jay complained rather loudly.

"Does that guy ever shut up?" Kai asked Cole.

"Nope"

The blue ninja glared at the both of them before walking over to Zane, who was making sure they had enough supplies for the trip.

Kai looked towards the village, one of his hands resting on the handle of his dagger. On a normal day him and Nya would be making breakfast right about now. Today it would have been his turn to cook, so Nya would be setting up the shop for the day.

"Hey, you alright?" Cole asked, noticing the brunette seemed to be thinking about something.

"Huh, oh yeah," He replied," just thinking about a few things."

The black ninja nodded," You know, you never told us how you got those scratches on your arm."

Kai looked down at his left arm, the bandages currently hidden underneath the sleave of his gi," I got a little to close to a momma bear and her cubs, no biggie."

"You where attacked by a bear?!" Jay exclaimed, suddenly standing next to the other two ninja. Zane, curious after hearing Jay yell, walked over as well.

"It was no problem really, there's planty of bears in the woods around Ignacia. That definitly wasn't my first run in with one."

"Still, a mother bear protecting it's young can be extremely dangerous," Zane pointed out," You are lucky that you where able to get away."

"Whatever, are we going to be leaving soon or not?"

"Sensei said that he wanted to buy some more tea before we left."

"Great, isn't waiting on Sensei what led to mister Hothead here nearly freezing to death in the first place?" Jay complained.

"And you where a great help in finding him," Cole stated.

"Hey, I'm the one who found his footprints."

"Your also the one who talks without thinking and freaks out instead of trying to do something usefull."

The two ninja continued to argue, but Kai just blocked them out. He walked to the edge of the boat and looked out over the water they would soon be sailing off in. He wasn't a huge fan of water, but for some reason when he saw it, it reminded him of his sister. He couldn't really say why, it just did. Maybe it was just that Nya seemed to have a love for swimming for just about as long as he could remember.

The brunette almost didn't notice that the white ninja was now standing next to him.

"Are you thinking of your sister?" He asked.

"How did you.. ?" Kai started," Right, you have that weird sixth sense thing."

"I don't need a sixth sense to know that you care about her quite a bit."

"Yeah, she's pretty special."

"I am positive that you will see her again, you'll just need to be patient."

The brunette laughed a little," Patience was never my strong suit, but I suppose I don't have much of a choice."

They both stood there for a few moments before Kai asked," Hey Zane, what was your life like before you became a ninja?"

"I traveled a lot, and found jobs at villages that I was traveling through in order to sustain myself."

"What about your family?"

Zane went quite for a second, seeming deep in thought before he answered," Do not worry about my past. At the moment your only concern should be finding your sister."

Kai wanted to say something, but the blond started walking away before he had a chance. He decided not to press any further, as he still wasn't really use to interacting with people and he didn't want to ruin his newly forged friendship.

He had to admit, it actually felt kinda good to be able to trust people besides just Nya. Before, he had been planning to leave the team as soon as they saved his sister, but now he was considering the possible of becoming a full time ninja. Might not pay as well as being a blacksmith, but the other benefits certainly seemed to be worth it.

Sensei Wu came on board right then, and instantly ordered the ninja to set sail. Cole took the wheel and the ship started moving away from the small snowy village. Kai watched it shrink until he couldn't see it anymore. Then he looked back to the others. Jay was trying to start a game of eye spy with Cole, while Zane was meditating on the deck.

The teen smiled before looking back out towards the water.

 **And that's the end of this story. Keep a look out for the random bonus chapter I plan to add on to the end of this**


	5. RANDOM BONUS CHAPTER!

**RiverIsTheMagicWord: I am glad that you like my story. The next one I am planning actually involves how Jay and Cole met Zane, so you'll get to see some more of him then. Honestly I think I am a lot like Jay (I mean my name literally starts with random), but Kai is definitely my favorite.**

 **Loki God of Evil: Yup, all safe and sound. But this happened long before the Bounty was found. They are currently on the random boat they used in the Frozen Wastelands to reach the temple of ice.**

 **rbrill345: I'm glad you enjoy my little story. I'm already working on my next one so that should come out soon**

The ninja all panted as they finally reached the boat after retrieving the shurikens of ice.

"Would it of killed Sensei to get a guard dog like a regular person?" Cole complained.

"And to think we still have two more to find," Kai added. The earth ninja visibly shuddered at the thought of having to face two more of the large beasts guarding the weapons.

Jay suddenly started laughing and the other ninja looked at him.

"What's so funny?" Cole asked, clearly confused as to why his teammate was laughing.

"Remember back at the village when I said we would turn into ninjacicles?" He responded," Zane turned to a ninjacicle, and he's the master of ice."

Cole face palmed and Kai groaned, while Zane continued to stare at the blue clad teen with a confused expression.

"Can I just push him overboard," The brunette asked," I seriously don't think I can handle another boat ride with this guy."

"I am afraid you are going to have to because we are headed for the nunchucks of lightning next," Wu said, surprising all of the ninja who didn't realize he had walked up behind them," Now let's get moving, my tea is getting cold."

 **IDK why I made this, but it was fun. I'm thinking of adding a random bonus chapter at the end of all my fics just because I can. Hopefully they will be a little longer than this.**

 **Well, that's all for now, so RD OUT!**


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